ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has briefed the Contact Group of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about the current human rights situation in IIOJK, local media reported on Friday. He made the briefing during the meeting of the OIC Contact Group on IIOJK in Mauritania.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministers Briefs OIC Contact Group on IIOJK
…the #OIC Secretary-General, Mr. #Hissein_Brahim_Taha, affirmed the OIC's continued support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in realizing their right to self-determination. pic.twitter.com/9ILh73pfBb
— OIC (@OIC_OCI) March 17, 2023
On this occasion, the minister explained that the current situation in IIOJK has deteriorated with New Delhi’s illegal and unilateral acts of 5 August 2019 and the successive attempts at demographic changes in the occupied territory. He added that by issuing millions of fake domiciles to non-Kashmiris and legislating laws that permit non-residents to buy and own land in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, India was attempting to convert people of Kashmir into a disempowered minority in their own area. These measures were in blatant violation of international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibited an occupying power and force from taking such steps, he remarked.
The Contact Group of OIC expressed alarm at the situation in the IIOJK and approved a Joint Communique reaffirming OIC’s stance on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and reiterating its strong rejection of India’s unilateral and illegal acts of 5 August 2019.
The Contact Group urged the OIC Secretary General and the member nations to highlight the just cause of Kashmir at every international forum and also hold New Delhi accountable for its oppression of the Kashmiri people. The Contact Group also asked India for an immediate end of violations of human rights in the IIOJK and taking measures for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the people of Kashmir.
